Neural correlates of plasma acylated ghrelin level in individuals with mood disorders

重性抑郁症（MDD）患者血浆酰化ghrelin水平与健康人无显著性差异。在MDD组中，ghrelin水平与食欲下降的严重程度呈正相关。在总样本中，Ghrelin水平与腹侧被盖区（VTA）的灰质体积呈负相关。MDD患者的VTA灰质体积明显小于健康受试者。我们的研究结果表明，血浆酰化ghrelin与神经异常的快乐/奖励系统，并可能参与了MDD的病理生理。

There was no significant difference in plasma acylated ghrelin level between patients with major depressive disorder(MDD) and healthy subjects. In the MDD group, ghrelin levels positively correlated with the severity of reduced appetite. Ghrelin levels negatively correlated with gray matter volume of the ventral tegmental area(VTA) in the total sample. The patients with MDD showed significantly smaller VTA gray matter volume compared to healthy subjects. Our findings suggest that plasma acylated ghrelin is associated with neural abnormalities of the pleasure/ reward system and may be involved in the pathophysiology of MDD.